The supply of lubricating oil to an internal combustion engine is critical. In two-stroke engines, a mixture of oil and fuel is supplied to the combustion chambers of the engine. In some cases, the oil and fuel are premixed in a supply tank and the mixture is supplied to the engine via a delivery system.
In many other instances, oil is drawn from one source and fuel is drawn from another source. The oil is typically drawn from a tank through a delivery line by an oil pump. Similarly, the fuel is drawn from a tank by a fuel pump. The oil and fuel are mixed before delivery to the combustion chambers by routing oil pumped by the oil pump into the fuel system.
In the first case, oil is supplied to the engine as long as fuel is delivered to the engine. In the latter case, it is possible that the oil pump may fail and yet fuel is still delivered to the engine because the independent fuel pump is still operational. This may have detrimental consequences to the engine.
A system and method for detecting the operating condition of the lubricant delivery system, and more particularly, the operating condition of an oil pump of such a system, is desired.